So Neil said i was able to do my first dive and gave me all the paper work to fill out. when filling out these surety forms i came across a bunch of medical questions. most of them had a "no" answer to it but came across a question asking if i've ever had a collapsed lung and i had to answer "yes" - long story behind that but, yea wont go into it. Neil was extremely concerned and made me phone my dad (midnight - because im 9 hours ahead of all you peeps back home) to find out the ins and outs of the condition i had had. My dad had reassured me that everything was A-OK and once Neil was chilled about it we were off to the ship wreck (previously mentioned in my blogs).
On arrival i met the students that were going to be diving with me. All of them were from the Australian military. there were 3 boys and 7 gals -one was quite hot- lol... if i had to die diving, this day would be it :p haha we split up into two groups and did a few drills before we actually went exploring the wreck. with being a swimmer all my life i'd forget to breathe under water (lol) it takes some getting used to!
I'd like to tell you all about my scuba diving experience but it has left me speechless. I read a passage that pretty much describes how i feel, so here it goes:
It feels strange the first time. The mask. The awkward gear, a bit heavy. You ease into the water and your face slips below the surface.
Inhale; the air comes with a reassuring hiss, and for the first time, you breathe underwater. In moments, you forget the mask.
The equipment transforms to light and agile, and you're free like you've never experienced before. With that first underwater breath, the door opens to a different world. Not a world apart, but different nonetheless.
Go through that door. Your life will never be the same.
No one but you can say what calls you to scuba diving.
If you seek adventure, you'll find plenty, whether it's in a sunken ship as you uncover its secrets, in a far corner of the world amid other peoples and cultures, or in your backyard - closer than you imagined possible.
If you love nature, you've come to the the right place.
No other environment approaches the abundance, diversity and vibrancy of a pristine coral reef. You can see more different species in ten minutes there than in ten hours in the most unspoiled wildernesses above water.
But with time, you'll discover that even unlikely places that seem empty and sterile to the inexperienced eye - like a lake or flooded quarry - teem with intriguing organisms - a reminder that nature's imagination exceeds ours.
If discovery drives you, welcome to inner space.
It's somewhat cliché, yet true, that we know the surface of the moon better than we know the bottoms of the oceans. Even at the most popular dive sites, you'll see things most people never see and go where most people ever go. Even with hundreds of dives under your belt, visiting a new dive site thrills you with discovery, and visiting a familiar one is a bit like coming home.
And scuba diving means rising to new challenges. It's one of the rare activities that deliver adrenaline and intensity, or serenity and peace.
You can take on challenges requiring training, planning and focus: searching for and recovering lost objects, descending to 100 feet (if your diving level permits) or exploring your favorite dive site after sunset.
Or you can drift along in some of the world's most tranquil and beautiful settings, with your biggest immediate worry whether you want to stop and photograph that star fish or not.
Either way, diving grows with you - there's always somewhere new to explore, something new to see, some new way to enjoy the experiences. No other endeavor so easily matches exactly what you're up for, right now, tomorrow, and ten years from now. You cannot outgrow it.
You've probably seen photos, television and films about diving, but until you do it yourself, you can't really understand what it's like. Nothing on earth matches the sensations you experience - the thrill of breathing underwater, the freedom of "weightlessness", and unique sights and sounds.
this passage describes the feeling i had :)
it was overcast the whole day and had some tropical rain storms later that evening. the humidity killed me!
